Toronto-based battery recycler Li-Cycle has a new owner. But the fate of its unfinished hub facility in Greece remains uncertain.
Li-Cycle was once a gem of local economic development efforts. Then, in October 2023, the company abruptly stopped construction on its massive hub facility at Eastman Business Park — suspending the promise of a couple hundred jobs as project costs soared.
The company’s finances continued to spiral, and Li-Cycle filed for bankruptcy this past May. But this week, they announced that longtime investor Glencore Canada Corp. had closed on the purchase of the business and its assets — including the hub.
That has been a question mark throughout the sale process, as multiple court filings noted the hub could be “excluded" from the final deal. At last estimate, the facility still would require $487 million to be completed.
Glencore has declined comment on the hub and its plans locally.
Li-Cycle takes in everything from scrap material to full batteries and breaks it all down, producing basic metals for reuse.
Locally, there are two facilities. One is referred to as a "spoke," which — at the time everything shut down — employed about 40 people, taking in and breaking down lithium batteries, creating a "black mass." The recycled material then goes to the "hub" facility and is processed to create battery-grade lithium, nickel and cobalt. The hub employed about 50 people at the time of the shutdown.
The hub was to create 250-plus local jobs. Once envisioned to cost $485 million, though, the project price had doubled by fall 2023. When construction shut down, the work was just transitioning from structural to mechanical, piping and electrical, requiring more manpower.
The hub since has been reconfigured. The last public estimate was $960 million.
Li-Cycle closed last fall on a $475 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. To get the loan, though, Li-Cycle was supposed to raise $265 million in cash or credit to pay off debts and build up its reserves.
Glencore submitted a credit bid of $43.6 million plus the assumption of other liabilities.
Even with the sale, several outstanding liens that contractors filed against the Eastman Business Park property remain in place.
